Tagged: hints

Years before supermarket shelves were packed with an array of brightly coloured bottles promising to kill 99.9% of all germs or promising to clean an item so brightly that you could use it as a make shift mirror, the world of cleaning used natural remedies and sometimes slighty unnatural remedies to get results…

1. Lemon Juice can be for stains and rust on plastic – use diluted or neat

2. Use diluted lemon juice on a curry stain on a carpet to remove stain and freshen fabric

3. For spills on carpets, use soda water dabbed on to remove staining from pile

4. Remove water marks from wooden surfaces with a small amount of mayonnaise or toothpaste on a damp cloth

6. To make your chrome sparkle and shine, pour flour over, rinse and buff with a soft cloth

7. To make your stainless steel shine, rub it over with baking powder and buff up with a ball of scrunched up newspaper

8. Want to perk up your wooden furniture? Wash wood with a white vinegar/water solution, leave over night, then polish and buff surfaces as normal the next day

9. For tough, hard to shift stains and for disinfectant properties use white vinager and water, with a 1:5 ratio

10. To remove lime scale from a shower head, leave in a bowl of white vinegar overnight

11. Remove hard water marks from toilet bowls by tipping in fizzy cola, leaving for an hour and then flushing

12. Rub plant leaves with a small of amount of mayonnaise or milk on a paper towel to make them shine for weeks!

13. To make small brass or copper items shine, rub with a cotton swab that has been dipped in ketchup, then buff

14. Use WD-40 to remove sticker marks from plastic tubs and items

15. Want to find another use for vodka other than having a party… how about using it on a soft clean cloth to shine porcelain, chrome or glass

16. Use rice to clean inside vases, bottles or hard to reach areas by mixing rice with a water/vinegar solution, shaking vigorously and rinse out (rice is also good for putting into your salt pot to protect from moisture)

17. To remove rust from items put the kettle on (no, not for you) and make some strong black tea, wait for it to cool and place the item in the tea for an hour to overnight depending on the level of rust

18. To remove wax and paraffin stains on furniture use glycerine (bought from chemists and is harmless on skin)

19. Another top tip for carpet spills, sprinkle over the spill with corn starch, leave for 15 mins and then vaccum

20. To remove mineral stains from glass built up by dishwashers or hard water areas rub with freshly peeled potato skins and buff